Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde has typically praised his gamers for his or her deal with the sport in entrance of them. He took the identical method himself throughout Wednesday’s pregame media session.
Peppered with questions on his crew’s huge upcoming collection with the Tampa Bay Rays, Hyde’s reply to the primary started with a reminder the Orioles nonetheless needed to play another recreation towards the St. Louis Cardinals.
“First and foremost is tonight, honestly,” Hyde mentioned. “We need to take care of tonight. We need to play our best baseball and score some runs.”
They did neither, shedding 1-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals as their lead on the Rays atop the American League East fell to 2 video games earlier than the foes face off 4 occasions this weekend. Paired with different outcomes across the league, their magic quantity to clinch a playoff spot remained 4.
One of three prime 20 prospects Baltimore despatched to St. Louis final month to amass starter Jack Flaherty, Cardinals left-hander Drew Rom didn’t permit successful till Jorge Mateo’s two-out infield single within the fifth and completed with 5 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first main league win. He entered the night time with a 7.79 ERA, although that was decrease than the 8.19 determine Adam Wainwright carried into Tuesday’s begin wherein he topped Baltimore (91-54) for his 199th profession win.
Their mixed performances ended the Orioles’ streak of seven straight collection wins. Baltimore will attempt to begin one other Thursday towards Tampa Bay. Randy Arozarena’s go-ahead dwelling run for the Rays within the ninth inning of their afternoon victory towards the Minnesota Twins prompted a string of curse phrases inside Baltimore’s clubhouse. The Orioles couldn’t return the favor with a late swing of their very own, stranding Gunnar Henderson after his two-out triple within the ninth. They managed solely two hits earlier than it, with Anthony Santander’s double within the sixth chasing Rom.
“We didn’t square many balls up,” Hyde mentioned. “Give [Rom] credit. He pitched really well. We had a tough time getting to his fastball and he kind of kept us off balance with the sweeping slider. Didn’t do much.”
Baltimore’s fourth-round draft choose in 2018, Rom turned the youngest Cardinals starter to report not less than seven strikeouts in a highway recreation since Flaherty, who has a 7.16 ERA in six begins for the Orioles. Rom mentioned the punchouts will give him “bragging rights” with former teammates.
“It’d feel a lot better than just a ground ball or something like that,” Rom mentioned. “I just wanted to make sure they couldn’t talk too much over the offseason. … Those are going to always be some of my best friends that I’ve met along the way for a lifetime. If they end up winning everything, I still get a ring, so of course that’s going to be nice if they end up winning, get a nice little World Series ring next year. I just hope the best for those guys.”
The large hit has been absent the previous two nights, a stretch wherein Baltimore managed two complete runs after placing up double digits in 4 of their earlier 5 video games. The Orioles adopted going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring place Tuesday with an 0-for-6 exhibiting in these conditions Wednesday. The offense was not helped by the absence of first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who left the sport after one plate look with left shoulder discomfort.
The empty night time for the bats wasted a robust begin from veteran Kyle Gibson, who by permitting a run over 6 2/3 innings surrendered fewer than three runs in an outing for the primary time since July 31. The Cardinals’ solely run off Gibson, and of the sport, got here within the fourth, when Towson University product Richie Palacios hit his third dwelling run in two nights.
“Any series is tough, but I still think we’ve played pretty good baseball,” Gibson mentioned. “I think the last thing we need to do right now is make too much about one loss and losing the series. Yeah, does it stink that Tampa won? Sure, but we’re two games up, and if we play really good baseball here the next three weeks, I think we’ll be fine.”
Around the horn
- The Orioles added a recent arm to their bullpen earlier than Wednesday’s recreation, swapping left-hander Cole Irvin for left-hander Nick Vespi. Hyde mentioned the mixture of the crew’s use of a six-man rotation, which imply one fewer spot within the bullpen, and a few quick begins from it of late prompted the transfer. Vespi has been optioned 4 occasions this season after being despatched down 5 occasions — the utmost with out penalty to the crew — final yr regardless of pitching successfully in Triple-A and the majors. “Head down, work hard,” Vespi mentioned of his mindset. “You control your own destiny at the end of the day, so just keep pitching well, and chips will fall.”
- Injured nearer Félix Bautista performed catch Wednesday, the fourth time he has completed so since struggling a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his proper elbow Aug. 25. The crew has not made Bautista obtainable to the media within the almost three weeks because the damage.
- The Orioles named Double-A Bowie outfielder Dylan Beavers and Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Chayce McDermott their minor league participant and pitcher of the month for August. The thirty third total choose within the 2022 draft, Beavers hit .344 with a .908 OPS for the Baysox final month. One of two pitchers acquired for Trey Mancini final season, McDermott posted a 2.81 ERA and allowed a .185 common in 5 August begins.
Baltimore Sun reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer contributed to this text.
Rays at Orioles
Thursday, 7:15 p.m.
TV: Chs. 45, 5
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com